The Yellow Hen

The Yellow Hen

A strange noise awoke Dorothy, who opened her eyes to find that day
had dawned and the sun was shining brightly in a clear sky. She had
been dreaming that she was back in Kansas again, and playing in the
old barn-yard with the calves and pigs and chickens all around her;
and at first, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she really
imagined she was there.

Ah; here again was the strange noise that had awakened her. Surely it
was a hen cackling! But her wide-open eyes first saw, through the
slats of the coop, the blue waves of the ocean, now calm and placid,
and her thoughts flew back to the past night, so full of danger and
discomfort. Also she began to remember that she was a waif of the
storm, adrift upon a treacherous and unknown sea.

"Dear me!" she exclaimed, in surprise; "have YOU been here all
night, too?"

"Of course," answered the hen, fluttering her wings and yawning.
"When the coop blew away from the ship I clung fast to this corner,
with claws and beak, for I knew if I fell into the water I'd surely be
drowned. Indeed, I nearly drowned, as it was, with all that water
washing over me. I never was so wet before in my life!"

"Yes," agreed Dorothy, "it was pretty wet, for a time, I know. But do
you feel comfor'ble now?"

"Not very. The sun has helped to dry my feathers, as it has your
dress, and I feel better since I laid my morning egg. But what's to
become of us, I should like to know, afloat on this big pond?"

"I'd like to know that, too," said Dorothy. "But, tell me; how does
it happen that you are able to talk? I thought hens could only cluck
and cackle."

"Very," replied Dorothy. "If we were in the Land of Oz, I wouldn't
think it so queer, because many of the animals can talk in that fairy
country. But out here in the ocean must be a good long way from Oz."

"I'm glad to know that," continued the yellow hen, in a confidential
tone; "because, if one is going to talk, it's best to talk correctly.
The red rooster has often said that my cluck and my cackle were quite
perfect; and now it's a comfort to know I am talking properly."

"No, indeed; I never care to hatch eggs unless I've a nice snugnest,
in some quiet place, with a baker's dozen of eggs under me. That's
thirteen, you know, and it's a lucky number for hens. So you may as
well eat this egg."

"Oh, I couldn't POSS'BLY eat it, unless it was cooked," exclaimed
Dorothy. "But I'm much obliged for your kindness, just the same."

For a moment Dorothy stood looking out over the wide sea. She was
still thinking of the egg, though; so presently she asked:

"Why do you lay eggs, when you don't expect to hatch them?"

"It's a habit I have," replied the yellow hen. "It has always been my
pride to lay a fresh egg every morning, except when I'm moulting. I
never feel like having my morning cackle till the egg is properly
laid, and without the chance to cackle I would not be happy."

"It's strange," said the girl, reflectively; "but as I'm not a hen I
can't be 'spected to understand that."

"Certainly not, my dear."

Then Dorothy fell silent again. The yellow hen was some company, and
a bit of comfort, too; but it was dreadfully lonely out on the big
ocean, nevertheless.

After a time the hen flew up and perched upon the topmost slat of the
coop, which was a little above Dorothy's head when she was sitting
upon the bottom, as she had been doing for some moments past.

"Why, we are not far from land!" exclaimed the hen.

"Where? Where is it?" cried Dorothy, jumping up in great excitement.

"Over there a little way," answered the hen, nodding her head in a
certain direction. "We seem to be drifting toward it, so that
before noon we ought to find ourselves upon dry land again."

"I shall like that!" said Dorothy, with a little sigh, for her feet
and legs were still wetted now and then by the sea-water that came
through the open slats.

The land, which they seemed to be rapidly approaching, since it grew
more distinct every minute, was quite beautiful as viewed by the
little girl in the floating hen-coop. Next to the water was a broad
beach of white sand and gravel, and farther back were several rocky
hills, while beyond these appeared a strip of green trees that marked
the edge of a forest. But there were no houses to be seen, nor any
sign of people who might inhabit this unknown land.

"I hope we shall find something to eat," said Dorothy, looking eagerly
at the pretty beach toward which they drifted. "It's long past
breakfast time, now."

"I'm a trifle hungry, myself," declared the yellow hen.

"Why don't you eat the egg?" asked the child. "You don't need to have
your food cooked, as I do."

"Of course. But when I was first hatched out no one could tell
whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster; so the little boy at the
farm where I was born called me Bill, and made a pet of me because I
was the only yellow chicken in the whole brood. When I grew up, and
he found that I didn't crow and fight, as all the roosters do, he did
not think to change my name, and every creature in the barn-yard, as
well as the people in the house, knew me as 'Bill.' So Bill I've
always been called, and Bill is my name."

"But it's all wrong, you know," declared Dorothy, earnestly; "and, if
you don't mind, I shall call you 'Billina.' Putting the 'eena' on the
end makes it a girl's name, you see."

"Oh, I don't mind it in the least," returned the yellow hen. "It
doesn't matter at all what you call me, so long as I know the name
means ME."

"Very well, Billina. MY name is Dorothy Gale--just Dorothy to my
friends and Miss Gale to strangers. You may call me Dorothy, if you
like. We're getting very near the shore. Do you suppose it is too
deep for me to wade the rest of the way?"

"Wait a few minutes longer. The sunshine is warm and pleasant, and we
are in no hurry."

"But my feet are all wet and soggy," said the girl. "My dress is dry
enough, but I won't feel real comfor'ble till I get my feet dried."

She waited, however, as the hen advised, and before long the big
wooden coop grated gently on the sandy beach and the dangerous voyage
was over.

It did not take the castaways long to reach the shore, you may be
sure. The yellow hen flew to the sands at once, but Dorothy had to
climb over the high slats. Still, for a country girl, that was not
much of a feat, and as soon as she was safe ashore Dorothy drew off
her wet shoes and stockings and spread them upon the sun-warmed beach
to dry.

Then she sat down and watched Billina, who was pick-pecking away with
her sharp bill in the sand and gravel, which she scratched up and
turned over with her strong claws.

"A good deal," said the girl, in a graver tone. "I can't just 'splain
the diff'rence, but it's there. And, anyhow, we never eat such
dreadful things as BUGS."

"But you eat the chickens that eat the bugs," retorted the yellow hen,
with an odd cackle. "So you are just as bad as we chickens are."

This made Dorothy thoughtful. What Billina said was true enough, and
it almost took away her appetite for breakfast. As for the yellow
hen, she continued to peck away at the sand busily, and seemed quite
contented with her bill-of-fare.

Finally, down near the water's edge, Billina stuck her bill deep into
the sand, and then drew back and shivered.

"Ow!" she cried. "I struck metal, that time, and it nearly broke
my beak."

"It prob'bly was a rock," said Dorothy, carelessly.

"Nonsense. I know a rock from metal, I guess," said the hen.
"There's a different feel to it."

"But there couldn't be any metal on this wild, deserted seashore,"
persisted the girl. "Where's the place? I'll dig it up, and prove to
you I'm right,"

Billina showed her the place where she had "stubbed her bill," as she
expressed it, and Dorothy dug away the sand until she felt something
hard. Then, thrusting in her hand, she pulled the thing out, and
discovered it to be a large sized golden key--rather old, but still
bright and of perfect shape.

"What did I tell you?" cried the hen, with a cackle of triumph. "Can
I tell metal when I bump into it, or is the thing a rock?"

"It's metal, sure enough," answered the child, gazing thoughtfully at
the curious thing she had found. "I think it is pure gold, and it must
have lain hidden in the sand for a long time. How do you suppose it came
there, Billina? And what do you suppose this mysterious key unlocks?"

"I can't say," replied the hen. "You ought to know more about locks
and keys than I do."

Dorothy glanced around. There was no sign of any house in that part
of the country, and she reasoned that every key must fit a lock and
every lock must have a purpose. Perhaps the key had been lost by
somebody who lived far away, but had wandered on this very shore.

Musing on these things the girl put the key in the pocket of her dress
and then slowly drew on her shoes and stockings, which the sun had
fully dried.

"I b'lieve, Billina," she said, "I'll have a look 'round, and see if I
can find some breakfast."